Islamabad: The federal government has decided to challenge the Supreme Court’s order on the formation of a full court in the contempt of court case involving Additional Registrar Judicial Nazar Abbas. Attorney General for Pakistan, Mansoor Usman Awan, informed the constitutional bench of the government’s stance regarding the decision.
While attending a hearing on the Customs Regulatory Duty case, the Attorney General informed the bench that the government would challenge the order, citing its unconstitutional nature.
The Supreme Court had recently ruled in the contempt of court case against Nazar Abbas, with the court noting that the Practice and Procedure Committee and the Judicial Committee had ignored a judicial order. The two-member bench, comprising Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Aqeel Abbasi, concluded that Abbas had not intentionally committed contempt of court. The court recommended withdrawing the show-cause notice against Abbas and referred the matter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan.
The court also observed that the Practice and Procedure Committee had no authority to withdraw the case despite the existing judicial order, and similarly, the Judicial Committee had no legal standing to reverse the case through administrative orders. It was clarified that Nazar Abbas did not act with malice, nor was there any personal interest or ill intent in his actions.
The ruling emphasized that the issue of whether the committees had disregarded the judicial order could only be settled by a full court, referencing a previous 14-judge bench decision. The court called for the Chief Justice to convene a full court to resolve the matter.
The judicial order further underlined that no action could be taken against the members of the two committees without a thorough review by the full court, given the gravity of the issue. The court stated that the matter required the collective deliberation of all Supreme Court judges.
The Attorney General confirmed that the government would move forward with challenging the decision in accordance with constitutional provisions.
